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Saturday, August 27, 2005
Court acquits teacher accused of hitting boy
By Raquel C. Bagnol
THE Regional Trial Court (RTC) has acquitted a public school teacher after the prosecution panel failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that she pulled the hair and slapped the face of a grade five pupil in March last year.
In a three-page decision, Judge Wenceslao Ibabao of RTC Branch 33 acquitted Gloria Pilapil, a grade five teacher of SIR Elementary School in Matina, Davao City, of the slight physical injury charges.
Prosecutor Augusto Gonzles earlier recommended the filing of criminal charges against the teacher.
Pilapil was accused of hitting her pupil Dexter and slapping his face.
But the court held that the bruises on the boy's face could have been caused by the punches he received from his classmate and not from the teacher's alleged slapping.
Dexter testified in court that he engaged in a fistfight with his classmate who he derided for being "gay."
He said he received several punches from his classmate in the face. The boy also said he did not read his complaint-affidavit but just signed it after his mother told him to do so.
Court records also showed that Dexter's mother was willing to settle the case for P5,000, which she later reduced to P3,000.
In his complaint-affidavit, Dexter claimed that he engaged in a fistfight with his classmate on March 5, 2004 when Pilapil, who was allegedly talking to another teacher near her table, approached them and pulled his hair.
Dexter claimed that after pulling his hair, Pilapil slapped him on the face twice.
He said he reported the incident to his parents who accompanied him to report the matter to the police and eventually filed the case before the City Prosecutor's Office.
Pilapil denied the allegations during the barangay conciliation hearing. She said she did not harm Dexter that day, and that Dexter has been noted to be very naughty in school.
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (August 27, 2005 issue)
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